Skeletons on the Surface
by Devi-Yosh
Summary: The monsters are finally freed from the barrier, and it's now time for them to make a living and live a peaceful, civilized life with the rest of humanity. However, both Sans and Papyrus find that living on the surface is a lot more difficult than they originally anticipated. (Post-Pacifist Route / monster racism / domestic fluff and drama / mild language)
1. Papyrus' New Job

This was it. This was the day Papyrus' life would be changed forever for all the better. He, his brother Sans, and every other monster who were trapped Underground were freed all thanks to a tiny human named Frisk.

It's been about three weeks since the liberation of monster kind, and the humans were fairly surprised to say the least that the monsters had managed to blend in so well to their society, especially after being trapped under the surface for as long as anyone could remember. Of course the monsters had a lot of catching up to do with modern time as most of the technology, content, and other things they had at their disposal were decades old. Thankfully, the monsters knew how to adapt, and they had no trouble catching up with humanity.

After a few days of monsters coexisting with humans, Frisk had visited Buttercup Village's mayor, and their adopted mother Toriel went with them. Since Frisk was the ambassador of monster kind, it was their job to help monsters slip snugly into human society, so they held a meeting with the major. Once it was concluded, the human child was more than excited to announce that monsters were granted freedom to open their own businesses if they so chose provided they had enough Gold to pay for rent and other necessities. Turns out their Gold was very special and elusive, so they had a lot of worth to humans; each piece of Gold added up to about $50, and the monsters had a lot of Gold to spare.

A few monsters here and there opened their own businesses as others decided to take jobs in human-built businesses. Toriel, for instance, finally managed to open her very own school as Grillby and Muffet opened their own restaurant and bakery, respectively.

Now here comes the super cool part: each monster business was hiring both monsters and humans to work for them - and of course more monsters than humans took up these opportunities - and Papyrus decided to sign up for a position as chef for Grillby's new restaurant. Since he couldn't be a member of the Royal Guard anymore, he'd might as well make a living out of his back-up dream. And guess what? He was hired!

Today was Papyrus' first day of training, and needless to say he was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement for his first day. He just couldn't wait to show everyone how well he can make spaghetti, and he was also eager to learn recipes of many other dishes - even if they didn't have anything to do with pasta.

The skeletal monster was currently slipping on his work uniform Grillby gave him a few days ago, and he had to say he was pleased with it. The black and red really brought out the whiteness of his bones. Placing on his chef hat and grinning confidently in the mirror installed in his bedroom, checking to make sure everything was in order, he trotted out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the living room.

"Heya, bro," Sans' voice greeted from behind him. Papyrus turned around to see Sans leaning against the kitchen door frame, grinning lazily as he sipped at a ketchup bottle. "Man, you're lookin' good."

"Thank you, brother!" Papyrus grinned brightly. "Today is the first day of my new job, so it's important that I look my best!"

"Yeah, you sure do look **Sans-ational** ," the older brother joked with a wink.

It was all Papyrus could to do choke down an annoyed screech. Sure, he could deal with a few puns now and then no matter how bad they may be, but dear God, was he getting sick and tired of that same pun. Sans was overusing it - scratch that, it's been overused ever since the sixth time he said it! What was worse was he was now dating Toriel, so whenever she came over to spend time with Sans he wouldn't be able to catch a break from the awful puns and jokes.

"Anyway," Papyrus grunted with a metaphorical roll of the eyes, "I must leave in a few minutes for training. _Please_ don't lounge about doing nothing today and do something productive, and whatever you do-"

"Don't forget to feed Rocky," Sans finished with a lazy chuckle, looking over briefly to his pet rock laying on a table on the other side of the room. "Don't worry, bro, I'll feed him, promise. And I'm not going to stay cooped up in here, either. I actually gotta meet up with Toriel at Muffet's shop in a couple hours, so that'll keep me busy."

"Well, make sure you meet the appointment," Papyrus huffed.

"Alright, alright, I will, just go to your trainin' thing," Sans dismissed with a lazy grin and a wave of a hand.

Papyrus huffed, but he complied. Bidding farewell to his brother, the younger brother left the house and made his short jog down the street to the newly opened restaurant.

Soon enough, the restaurant came into view. It was a rather large restaurant, about four times as big as Grillby's first restaurant from the Underground - at least from the outside. The exterior had nice shades of browns, oranges, and reds that contrasted to the white and gray houses and the lush green trees. There was something new about it, though; the bold shining letters on the front of the establishment didn't read Grillby's, but John's Grill. Papyrus furrowed his brows in confusion, but he quickly shrugged it off and trotted in.

Inside looked so much different from Grillby's Snowdin restaurant. There were many new red and brown tables, chairs, and booths that looked to be a bit too fancy for Grillby's taste. There was a rather large bar on the left side with a large flat-screen TV over it, which was currently turned off. The decorations on the walls were very fancy and attractive as well, yet there was no jukebox anywhere to be seen.

"Hello?" Papyrus called out as he walked around. "It is I, the Great Papyrus! I have applied for a job and was thus hired, and I am here to begin my training as chef!"

"Hello there, Papyrus," a familiar voice greeted in a low wispy tone.

"Grillby!" The skeletal monster jogged over to the fire elemental, who was standing outside the kitchen. "It is wonderful to see you again! I am ready to begin my training!"

"Yes..." Grillby muttered, looking very troubled. Before Papyrus could question what was wrong, he spoke up. "Well, we are currently waiting on the manager to arrive, so for now the staff are all assembled in the kitchen."

"Manager?" Papyrus echoed. "But you're the manager! You're the one who opened this restaurant!"

"I'll explain later. For now, come meet your teammates."

Millions of questions flashed through the skeletal monster's head all at once, almost dizzying him. Why wasn't Grillby the manager? Why is the restaurant called John's Grill? Who even _is_ John? Papyrus shook his head a bit to push these questions to the back of his mind as he followed the fire elemental into the kitchen.

In the kitchen were about ten employees dressed in the same attire Grillby and Papyrus were. Only, to Papyrus' surprise, all of them were human. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that, Papyrus liked both monsters and humans. It's just that he remembered Grillby telling him there were going to be more monsters than humans applying for jobs here. What on earth is going on here?

"You're the fourth chef, right?" a woman asked Papyrus. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Denise. You're, uh... Papyrus, right?"

"Oh, yes, that is I!" Papyrus grinned. "It's a pleasure making your acquaintance, Denise!"

"Too bad you're two minutes late," a man sneered. "John's not gonna be happy about that."

"I apologize, I was talking to my brother before coming here-"

"Well, good luck explaining that to John and getting away with it. He's so incredibly strict and won't tolerate mistakes on the job. Jeez, your first day of training and you already screwed up."

"Leave him alone, Chris," Denise hissed. "He didn't know. This is his first time working for John."

"I keep hearing of this John character, but I don't know who he is," Papyrus confessed. "Who is he?"

"He would be me."

Papyrus followed everyone else's gazes to a man standing behind them. He was not wearing the usual chef or waiter attire, but rather a black suit with a black-and-gray striped tie and a white undershirt.

"Oh, hello!" Papyrus grinned, waving to the man. "My name is-"

"Papyrus the skeleton, I know who you are," John finished. "I read your résumé. You seem to have an... interesting talent in preparing spaghetti."

"Oh, yes, I do!" Papyrus shouted excitedly. "The former captain of the Royal Guard taught me how! She's a wonderful teacher, and a wonderful friend, too!"

"Fascinating," John grunted dismissively. "Now are you going to let me do my job or are you just gonna keep talking until the cows come home?"

Papyrus didn't seem to pick up on the manager's rather rude tone, but he nodded anyway and stayed silent.

John proceeded to introduce himself as manager of the restaurant. Papyrus tried to ask why Grillby wasn't the manager, but he was only shushed by the fellow staff members. The manager explained a list of rules each employee needed to follow, including washing hands after leaving the work area for any reason, always work with a smile, and things of the like. He went on to explain the roles of each staff member; there were eight waiters and four chefs. Each waiter had to always be polite and tolerable to each and every customer as the chefs had to work together to cook the food. He assigned Chris to be head chef as Papyrus, Grillby, and Denise were the regulars. Why Grillby shouldn't at least be head chef Papyrus didn't understand either, and he found that he was beginning to be unfairly treated. After all, this was _his_ restaurant.

"Your team captains have worked for me before, so they will be the ones to train you in your fields," John finished. "Waiters, go with Terrance. Chefs, go with Chris." Before he dismissed everyone, he turned to Papyrus and Grillby. "Can I talk to you two privately for a few minutes?"

"Of course!" Papyrus grinned eagerly, trotting after the manager as the fire elemental followed at a much slower pace.

Once they were all secluded, John huffed a bit and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you two. You're new to our world, so I'll let you two off with a warning: don't get on my nerves."

"Excuse me?" Grillby questioned.

"If it were up to me, this would be a human-only restaurant. Unfortunately, it isn't up to me, so I was forced to have to accept at least two monsters to work here by the mayor. That doesn't mean I can't fire you if either of you slip up, so watch your step. I've held a reputation for multiple years of managing only the best restaurants this country's ever visited, and I'll be damned if my streak is ruined by a walking torch and the living dead. You two freaks better do what Chris tells you to, or else I'll want to hear about it."

Papyrus didn't understand. Surely every human should be acceptant of monsters living among them by now. However, it seems they're still being put on a lower step than humans by some. But he refused to let this put a damper on his mood. If some humans didn't like monsters, he's just going to have to work hard to prove that monsters are just as qualified to live on the surface and share the same privileges and rights as humans. He was determined to prove his worth!

"You needn't worry about a thing, John!" Papyrus declared, saluting him with a self-assured grin. "The Great Papyrus will not fail you!"

John narrowed his eyes at the skeletal monster and ignored his comment. "Grillby, you are dismissed. Papyrus, stay for a little longer."

Once Grillby bid a soft, polite farewell and left for the kitchen, John glared at Papyrus. "You're walking on very thin ice with me here, Skeletor. Tone down the voice and stop with the outbursts."

"Firstly, my name is Papyrus; I'm not sure who Skeletor is, but I assure you that is not me," Papyrus replied in confusion. "Also, I'm afraid I cannot help my tone. I was born with a loud, confident voice to fit my personality."

"I don't give a damn!" John snapped, actually getting the skeletal monster to flinch with his harsh tone. "Fix your issues or kiss your job goodbye! Now go to your group!"

"Y-Yes, sir," Papyrus stammered, taken aback by the manager's hostility. He frowned a bit as John walked away without another word, and for the first time in years he began to feel a bit discouraged. This abnormal feeling for the monster quickly evaporated and was replaced with determination to prove himself a worthy employee. Grinning brightly, he made his way back to the kitchen.

At the end of the day as Papyrus made his way back home, he was certain he was going to cry.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope this chapter came out alright. I honestly know next to nothing about how to manage restaurants, so I don't know if they're allowed to be this openly rude or racist to employees. This is a fictional story in a town different from actual typical civilization, so I suppose it could be normal on their standards.**


	2. Sans' Date

Sans looked at the clock. It was three o' clock in the afternoon. Time to head over to Muffet's. Oh, but how he didn't want to, he finally found the most perfect position on the couch and his sockets were heavy with sleep. How he wanted to just lay there in that blissful position for the rest of the afternoon and snooze away. But he told Toriel he'd meet her there at three-fifteen. Perhaps he could just blow it off for a few hours of sleep.

...No, he couldn't do that to Toriel. She'd be worried sick about him if he didn't show up, then frustrated once she found out he ditched her just to sleep. He could always give her a call, but his cell phone was on the coffee table just barely out of reach, and if he got up to grab it he'd might as well finish getting up to head out anyway. There was no way around it. He could sleep another time.

Groaning loudly and rather dramatically, Sans sat up on the couch and rubbed the sleep out of his sockets. Trying and failing to stifle a yawn, he grabbed his phone and trudged upstairs to his room where - surprise, surprise - it was a complete pigsty. Granted it wasn't nearly as messy as his room in the Underground was because he's been more energetic ever since the monsters were freed, but that still didn't mean he was going to turn into a neat freak like Papyrus was.

Sans opened his closet and fished out his regular attire: a blue jacket, a thin shirt, and shorts. The only thing he substituted were his pink slippers, slipping on socks and sneakers instead. It was easy to walk around in just slippers in Snowdin, but that's because there weren't dangers on the outside like cars and work zones and things of the like that would either cause him to lose his footwear or keep him from running from danger.

By the time he put everything on, it was three-o'-five. He just barely had enough time to make it to Muffet's. That is if he were walking. Chuckling, Sans tapped into his magic and snapped his fingers, teleporting out of the house and reappearing in less than a second later in the center of the bakery.

A sharp cry was heard soon after, followed by many crashes of dishes. Sans whipped around behind him to find the source of the abrupt noise, and he winced when he found a human woman collapsed to the ground with chattered lavender dishes around her, a large splash of coffee on her white shirt, and a few donuts scattered around her. Sans immediately knew he had startled her with his sudden appearance and caused her to fall back and spill her food all over her.

"Aw, geez, sorry about that," Sans apologized, holding out a hand for her to take.

The woman growled at him and shoved his hand away rudely before standing up and glaring down at him, gesturing to her stained shirt with her hands. "Look at what you did, you freak! This shirt is brand-new and you ruined it!"

"Look, I understand you're pretty **steamed** about this, but **donut** think I did that to you on purpose," Sans chuckled sheepishly, hoping his puns would lighten her mood.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to make her even more angry. "Now you're mocking me with puns? What do you take me for, a toddler? I don't have time for your little shenanigans! Move aside, _monster_!" She spat the word "monster" and shoved the skeletal monster out of the way, nearly making him fall over, and stomped out of the establishment.

"I said I was sorry..." Sans mumbled, rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

"Sans, are you okay?" a female voice called out. Sans recognized it to be Toriel's immediately, and he saw the boss monster walk over to him quickly. "Did you hurt anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine," he replied with a wide grin. He felt his SOUL grow lighter upon seeing the beautiful boss monster. He had finally accepted that he indeed had a crush on Toriel, ever since he first met her on the other side of the door to the Ruins in Snowdin Forest. Only when he saw her in person did his feelings truly blossom, and he didn't even feel guilty about crushing on the former queen of the monsters now that she left Asgore. A part of him still felt a bit guilty for practically snatching her up from the king, but Asgore had assured him that it was fine that he loved her. He wanted Toriel to be happy above all else after all. "If anything's hurt, I think it was that woman, but she didn't stick around too long before storming out."

"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry about her," Toriel sighed. "That was Linda, one of the PTA members who attend the meetings at school. She doesn't like monsters too much, and she definitely doesn't approve of monsters coexisting with humans and sharing the same rights."

"Harsh," Sans grunted. "Sorry about that, Tori."

"Oh, no, it's fine. We're not here to talk about her anyway. We're here to talk over a few donuts and a cup of coffee, remember?"

"Uh, y-yeah, that's right." Oh, boy. Sans' cheeks are starting to grow hot in an electric-blue blush again. This sort of thing _always_ happened whenever he'd spend time with Toriel, mainly because he likes to secretly pretend that these hangouts weren't just hangouts, but dates. Of course he wasn't able to muster the courage to tell her his feelings yet, but he'll get the chance one day. Hopefully.

Sans accompanied Toriel back to the seat she had reserved for him, and the two sat down in the chairs, facing each other. There was a lamp shining just above them, and the light allowed Sans to see all the beautiful details of Toriel's face. Her soft silky fur had been brushed to perfection, and her crystal clean white teeth shimmered like freshly fallen snow in the afternoon sun. Her eyes sparkled with joy and kindness like pools of sapphire, and that warm smile she wore as she looked down at him made his nonexistent heart melt.

The two monsters shared a cup of coffee and a few donuts, trading horrible puns and jokes back and forth and laughing up a storm. Sans always felt his spirits rise at the sound of Toriel's melodious laughter, which only drove him to make more jokes. Gosh, everything about this monster was just perfect. He knew things could only go up from here.

That is until the bill came. Sans was never good at remembering to bring his money with him, which was typically why he always forgot to pay Grillby for the things he ate back in the Underground. He had also said he was treating Toriel to lunch, but lo and behold the lovestruck monster was penniless. He moaned a bit, his cheeks flaring up in embarrassment, and he leaned against the table as he looked down.

"Er... I forgot my wallet at home..." he confessed meekly. "You wouldn't mind, uh... payin', would ya? I know I said I was treating you, sorry..."

"Oh, Sans, it's okay," Toriel smiled sweetly as she pulled out her wallet from her purse. She pulled out three pieces of Gold, and she frowned. "Oh, dear..."

"What's wrong, Tori?"

"I only have three pieces on me, but the pill calls for eight."

"Guess we'll need to get more dough to pay for the dough we ate, eh?" He felt a little better when the boss monster snorted and giggled. "Jeez, what do we do? I doubt Muffet's the type of monster to let me start a tab here."

"Is everything alright over here?"

A new voice spoke up in an airy giggle. Sans jumped in alarm as the voice came from right behind him, and he whipped around to see Muffet smiling down at him, her six arms folded casually behind her back and a sickly sweet smile stretched across her face. Great, just the monster he needed to see... How lucky is he...

"Oh, Muffet, I'm so sorry," Toriel began, "but I'm afraid Sans and I are just 5G short on what we owe you."

"Oh, dear, that is a problem," Muffet nodded in concern. She brightened up and smiled. "Not to worry, I know how you two can pay off what you owe!~"

"Oh, wonderful! How?"

"Ahuhuhu!~ By working it off, of course!"

Sans was afraid she was going to say that. He was never a good baker - evidence of this fact was shown in the pie he tried to make in which Papyrus mistook for a quiche - and he was a little too lazy to do any actual work. But that would mean that if he didn't do it, Toriel would, and she didn't deserve that. It was his fault for not remembering his wallet in the first place, and for her to take punishment for his blame just wouldn't be right. Sans stifled a heavy sigh.

"Alright, I'll do it," he spoke.

"As will I," Toriel jumped in.

"No, Tori, it was my fault for not remembering my wallet," Sans argued. "I just wouldn't sleep well at night if I knew you were sharing the punishment that's supposed to be mine and mine alone."

"I assure you it's okay, Sans," Toriel tried to reason, but she stopped arguing at the look of utter determination on the skeletal monster's face. She sighed softly and nodded. "Well, if that is what you wish. But if you need any help, you only need to ask."

"Wonderful!~" Muffet cried with joy. "You shall start work tomorrow, then, Sans, and you shall keep working until you have paid off your debt. Which shall take... three days."

Three whole days of working?! Well, at least Sans will be able to take advantage of those legally-required breaks. He had to do this, though, for Toriel. He had to prove to her that he can own up to his own mistakes and make things right. After all, women like and admire responsible men.

"Alright, I suppose that's okay," Sans confirmed.

"You shall come in at five o' clock tomorrow morning, then!~"

" _F-Five?!_ " Sans stammered, shaking his head a bit. "That's way too early!"

"I come to work at three in the morning to start my work, so consider yourself lucky that you'll be coming in two hours later."

Sans moaned softly and hid his face in his hands. Boy, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought. "Alright, alright... I'll be here at five."

"Marvelous, ahuhuhu!~" the spider monster giggled gleefully. "You two have a nice afternoon!" And with that, she skipped away to tend to the other customers.

"Geez, Tori, I'm really sorry about all this," Sans muttered, his cheeks still tinged with an embarrassed blush. "I know this was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon."

"Don't worry, Sans, it was," Toriel smiled reassuringly, resting a massive paw on his shoulder. "And I forgive you for forgetting your money. Everyone forgets something every now and then. We are only monsters after all."

Sans smiled and held her paw in a bony hand, finding much comfort in her words and gestures. He almost forgot why he was upset in the first place. Almost.

Sans and Toriel bid each other farewell before taking their own routes back home. This date wasn't too bad at all; it was rather fun actually. If only he hadn't forgotten his wallet. Now he had to work for Muffet for three days until he paid the money off. Halfway home, it also occurred to him that he had totally forgot to feed his pet rock.

Oh, Papyrus was _not_ going to be happy when he got home.


	3. Resolve

Papyrus trudged home on heavy feet, feeling both physically and mentally exhausted from his first day of training. He had expected the day to be fun, adventurous, and educational. Instead, he had signed up for stress, tension, and aggression.

The entire time Chris was rude and bossy. Sure, he was supposed to be a little commanding as he was the leader of the chef team, but that gave him no excuse to snap whenever anyone had any questions about things they didn't understand. Papyrus naturally had the most questions as he was naturally very curious and eager to learn as much as he can, yet all that did was infuriate Chris to the point where he just ignored him altogether. This caused Papyrus to fall behind on the lessons, and he struggled to catch up as Chris sped through with Grillby and Denise. He was fairly nice to Denise, but he was also very rude to Grillby. Turns out he was racist towards monsters as well as John.

There was a point where Denise tried to defend Papyrus when Chris ganged up on him during a cooking practice, but Chris completely ignored her. Chris was trying to teach everyone how to properly boil water, and Papyrus knew he had this method in the bag thanks to his many trainings with Undyne. As instructed by the former captain of the Royal Guard, he cranked up the heat as much as he could until the water in the pot over boiled and splattered all over Chris, scalding him. And boy was he livid. He sent the skeletal monster right to John, who didn't even bother to listen to his side of the story and instead banned him from cooking practices for the rest of the day.

It just wasn't fair. Sure, Papyrus perfectly expected not every human would be okay with the monsters resurfacing, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt when people ganged up on him and his kind. He hadn't cried since he was a baby bones, but today he felt like he was going to burst into tears at any moment. He wasn't used to such hostility, and he most certainly didn't know any other way to release any tension through methods other than crying. Hopefully Sans wasn't home, or if he was he was too busy napping. He just wanted to be alone in his room and release his emotions without worrying Sans about him.

He walked up the steps to his front door, yet another abrupt wave of fatigue washing over him and making his legs tremble as they struggled to support his weight. He didn't even know anymore if he'd have enough energy once he got inside to cry before passing out on his bed for the night. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the house keys, using them to unlock the door. He trudged in, closing and locking the door behind him, and made his way to the stairs. He didn't have the motivation to drag himself up to his room, so instead he turned around and collapsed on the sofa with a groan.

"Pap? Is that you?" he heard Sans call out from his room. Stifling another groan, he rolled over onto his back and sat up with much difficulty.

"Yes, brother," he replied, not surprised to find his voice sounded very tired.

He waited for the sound of his brother's snoring to indicate he had fallen asleep, but instead the door to his room opened and Sans began making his way down the stairs with a smile that looked forced, perhaps even a bit anxious. Papyrus would have questioned what was wrong if his arms didn't give out from supporting him in his sitting position, and he let out a grunt as he flopped back down on the sofa.

Sans' eyes arched in alarm before jogging uncharacteristically fast to his side. "Bro, you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I am," Papyrus lied, closing his eyes to avoid looking up at the brother whom he was currently being dishonest towards. He always hated lying to his brother. "Don't worry about me."

"Man, buddy, you look pretty bone-"

" _Don't_ ," the younger brother barked sharply, exhaustion making him irritable. He regretted his tone of voice upon seeing Sans flinch, and he let out a long, heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Sans. It... It was a really hard day today."

"Wanna talk about it?" Sans invited softly, nestling down on his knees and placing a comforting hand on Papyrus' shoulder. "Ya know I won't judge or anythin'. I'm only here to help."

Papyrus really didn't want to talk about the hardship he had gone through during training. All he wanted to do was cry and sleep. But Sans was really worried now, and it would be unfair to leave him that way without at least an explanation. Besides, Sans was always able to help him in the past whenever he was troubled; why would this time be any different? He may be a lazy bag of bones, but he was a very kind, supportive brother. He had to show his gratitude by fulfilling his wish.

The younger brother proceeded to retell the day's events, from the disappointment of learning Grillby didn't actually own the restaurant to John banning him from cooking and everything in between. Papyrus took notice of Sans' eye lights flickering a bit at certain points of the story, specifically the parts where Papyrus and Grillby were being treated unfairly by their coworkers and manager. This only made Papyrus more anxious to continue the story; he knew of his older brother's overprotective nature tracing all the way back to their youth when bullies would pick on him, and he'd use his powers to intimidate them or even beat them up. If he decided to do the same to these people there was going to be far more trouble than just detentions or suspensions from school.

"Please calm down, Sans," Papyrus would plead softly, feeling really nervous to be around him. Sans would notice how uncomfortable his boiling fury would make Papyrus, and he'd take a few deep breaths to control it before apologizing and letting him continue. This happened about five times, and Papyrus was relieved when he finally finished his story.

Sans didn't say anything. He just looked down at his hands, his eye lights completely gone at this point. It was clear he was absolutely livid, and with reason; Papyrus himself wasn't exactly a happy camper with being treated like less than humanity's equal. When his older brother didn't reply for a few minutes, Papyrus found his voice. "S-Sans? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," Sans growled in reply a few moments later, his eerie gaze still fixed at the ground. "They don't have the right to treat my brother that way, or my friend. I swear, when I get my hands on them-"

"No!" Papyrus exclaimed, sounding much more frantic than he intended. Sans looked up at him in alarm, his eye lights faintly returning. The younger brother coughed self-consciously before continuing with a more controlled voice volume. "Sorry. It's just... Well, of course there are going to be people who don't accept monsters yet, just how there are surely monsters who aren't too thrilled to be living among the humans. That just means we have to work hard to prove to them that we're just as qualified to live up on the surface and share the same privileges and rights as they are."

"But we shouldn't _have_ to work for that," Sans hissed through clenched teeth.

"You're absolutely right, we shouldn't, but that's just the way it is. Sans, I'm not happy about this - believe me, I'm really not - but I'm not just going to give up on proving to them that monsters and humans are equals. I will strive to prove to them that we monsters are safe and respectable; I'm certain the reason John and Chris and any other humans who don't like monsters don't like us is because they're scared of us and they don't know what we're capable of. It's pretty normal for monsters as well to fear the unknown, so I wouldn't expect any different from humans."

"But they still can't treat you like this, bro," the older brother argued softly. "I don't want to see you getting hurt by prejudice assholes who don't know a damn thing about us, especially considering they're the ones who trapped us down underground in the first place."

"If you believe I'll keep allowing them to get under my skin, especially considering I don't have any-" Papyrus decided to slip in a little pun to cheer Sans up a bit, smiling as he heard him chuckle a bit, "-then you've got another thing coming. The Great Papyrus is much stronger than people may think, and I'm determined to make humans see the good in monsters. I never let any sort of hardship stop me from training to be a Royal Guard member back in the Underground, and I surely won't let this stop me now."

"If you say so," Sans nodded, still sounding quite unsure. "Just... be careful, alright?"

"Of course, brother." Eager to change the subject now, Papyrus forced a smile. "So, how was your day? I see you're changed, so you must've stepped out. Though I do see the pet rock hadn't been fed yet..." He narrowed his eyes at the rock sitting on the table.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, I was late for my da- _uh_!" Sans jolted in his seat, cheekbones tinged with electric blue, and he cleared his throat as he looked away. "Uhh... My hangout with Toriel at Muffet's."

Papyrus couldn't help but smirk knowingly. He knew too well of Sans' little crush on the former queen of the monsters, and this little slip-up of his just provided further evidence of this confirmation. He decided to tease him about his puppy love another time. "So you spent the rest of the afternoon there with her?"

"Uh, yeah. We were just, uh, y'know... tradin' knock-knock jokes and such. But, uh... then I, uh... screwed up."

Uh-oh. This won't be good. "Screwed up how, exactly?" Papyrus demanded suspiciously.

Sans ended up looking absolutely everywhere in the house but at Papyrus as he shifted nervously on his knees. "Uhh... I, uh... kinda... sorta... maybe..."

"Oh, just spit it out, Sans."

"Okay, okay! I... forgot my wallet at home. And Toriel didn't have enough Gold to cover us. Sooo... Nnnow I gotta work off what I owe Muffet." Sans grinned sheepishly up at his brother and chuckled weakly.

Papyrus let out a soft moan and rubbed between his eyes in frustration. "Oh, Sans... Well... at least this will give you practice working. It's about time you started looking for a job anyway; we've been on the surface long enough."

"Eh, you're not wrong, but truth be told I'm not really looking forward to it," Sans huffed with a shrug. "Workin's not really my forte."

"Well, let this just be a lesson learned that Grillby's the only one who'll ever allow you to keep tabs," Papyrus retorted as he stood up and made his way to his bedroom. "I had a long day. I think I'm going to spend some time in my room for a little. Be ready to go to Muffet's in the morning at... when was it?"

"Er, five."

"Wowie, that's pretty early. I'll set your alarm. Just don't hit the snooze button." Smiling a bit as his older brother lazily held up a thumb's up before making his way to the kitchen, Papyrus finished the trot up the stairs and entered his room.

The taller skeletal monster sighed as he began unbuttoning his shirt, but not before placing his hat on his bed. He was far too tired to cry now, not that he'd want to now anyway. He'd show them. He'd show John and Chris. He'd show single human on the surface and beyond that he and his kind were worthy of coexisting with them in harmony. He'd prove to everyone that he'll make a fine chef yet, and maybe he'll even earn Grillby back the title of manager just as he deserves.

Humans had determination. But monsters didn't have nearly enough of that to feel it in action. Instead, they possessed their own inner strength nearly as strong. A strength called resolve.

At that moment, Papyrus was filled with resolve.


	4. Struggles of Work

_BEEEE! BEEEE! BEEEE! BEEEE!_

The loud, obnoxious beeping of the alarm clock roused Sans from his comfortable slumber. Ever since coming to the surface, Frisk's powers to RESET had been lost, finally granting the skeleton night after night of undisturbed sleep. Now that he finally realized he can now move forward rather than back, nightmares had become a thing of the past.

That being said, the alarm's constant beeping made him more irritable than anything else that he wasn't able to fall back into a blissful rest, one he had craved desperately back Underground. Stupid alarm. Stupid job. Stupid wallet.

Though if he was being honest with himself, Sans was just as stupid for being so forgetful. As an adult, he knew he had to be more responsible, especially considering he was practically the only role model Papyrus had when they were younger. How Papyrus turned out to be what Sans was supposed to be and not the other way around, the older brother still didn't understand.

Blinking his sockets open, still heavy with sleep, Sans looked at the clock to check the time, groaning softly as it read 3:30 AM. Papyrus must have set it way early to ensure the smaller skeleton got up and ready in time to start his first day working off what he owed Muffet. But really, three in the morning? Sans could easily get ready and arrive on time in fifteen minutes!

He knew he shouldn't, he _really_ shouldn't, but that snooze button was looking so tempting. Papyrus made sure to drill into his head _not_ to hit that button under any circumstances. Then again... he will be woken up again after an hour by the alarm, and that'll still give him more than enough time to get ready for work.

Sans had made up his mind. With a tired smile, he pressed the snooze button, and the alarm silenced, not to go off again until 4:30. Content, the skeleton curled back up under his covers and drifted back into sleep.

" _Sans!_ I cannot believe you! Wake up, you lazybones!"

It felt like only a few minutes went by before Sans' sockets fluttered open again, greeted by a new alarm: his brother. That didn't make sense, though. Papyrus didn't get up until six to begin getting ready for training, and he had set the alarm to go off at 4:30. Unless...

Sans' sockets widened in alarm as he rolled over to check the time, and his bones seemed to grow hollow. It was six-fifteen. He had overslept by over an hour!

"Sans, I specifically _told_ you not to hit that snooze button!" Papyrus was scolding. "I just _knew_ something like this would happen. And now you're late!"

"Shoot!" With uncharacteristic speed, Sans threw off the covers and teleported to his closet, scouring for his day clothes. When he found all his hangers void of shirts, shorts, and jackets, he turned on Papyrus. "What the heck happened to my clothes?"

"I told you I was going to wash them yesterday," Papyrus replied, his voice dripping with annoyance. "I told you you'd have to switch them over to the dryer when you woke up. Now they're still soaking wet in the washer."

"Well, why didn't you rotate them?"

"I'm not going to do _everything_ for you, Sans! You have to take some kind of responsibility around here!"

Sans growled under his breath and massaged the bridge of his nasal cavity with his pointer and thumb. He wasn't upset at Papyrus - why would he? The younger skeleton did nothing wrong; if anything, he was still very helpful in the long run. Instead, he was upset at himself. First he forgets his wallet during the outing with Toriel, and now this.

"Alright, I'll just put them in the dryer now," Sans decided.

"Do that and you'll be even later," Papyrus pointed out. "That dryer takes an hour to finish, and by the time it does you'll be two and a half hours late."

"Well, what am I supposed to do," Sans shouted, his voice rising to a shrill yelp in distress, "go to work with soaking-wet clothes?"

"I have two questions for you, deary," Muffet began, her face expressionless. She gestured to Sans' attire. "Firstly, why are your clothes so wet?"

Sans shivered heavily in his clothes, heavy with water and chilled by the cold morning air. Skeletons could only feel a touch of temperature on account they didn't have any nerves, but if something was hot or cold enough they would really begin to feel it, and Sans felt like he was going to catch a cold from the frigidness seeping into his bones. "F-F-Forgot t' put my c-clothes through the d-dryer. I'll be f-fine."

"I'm not worried about you, but I am worried about the shop. With you dripping water everywhere, you may make someone slip, and when you go to serve pastries and coffee that detergent-contaminated water will act as a contaminant. You could get someone sick. Not to mention having someone soaked and dripping won't look well on my business."

Sans shuffled on the spot and averted his eyes, ashamed. He had never took any of those into consideration, and now by not doing something as simple as putting his clothes through the dryer he could just put Muffet's business in jeopardy. Some first impression he made.

"Worry not, I have extra clothes in the back you can wear," Muffet assured him, not sounding angry, but not sounding sympathetic either. "Secondly, why have you arrived nearly two hours late? I thought I had made it perfectly clear you were to arrive at 5 o' clock sharp to start working."

"I, uh... overslept," Sans confessed shamefully.

The spider monster let out a soft sigh, shaking her head. "If you wish to work off the food you ate here yesterday you're going to have to be more punctual and professional. I know you're not used to getting up early to work, so I'll let this slide. But if this happens again I'm afraid you're going to have to expect consequences."

Sans nodded in understanding, unable to look Muffet in the eye, yet still feeling entirely grateful for her kindness. After this fiasco, he was going to be sure to do things right tomorrow morning.

"Now, let's get you changed out." Muffet gestured with an arm for Sans to follow into a small office connected to the kitchen, wincing as his dripping socks squelched under each footstep, further soaking his sneakers.

The spider monster opened a file cabinet and pulled out a dark purple set of work clothes, which sported lavender web markings on the chest and ends of the sleeves. Sans gratefully took the formal attire and made his way into the men's bathroom to change out. Moments later, he stepped out sporting the work clothes, and he couldn't help a burst of confidence upon feeling so professional.

"Oh, how charming!" Muffet smiled, clapping her hands together in delight. "Purple looks just as good on you as blue does. Now, we must finish getting ready to open at seven - only ten minutes from now. I'll need you to sweep the spider webs away from the walls and furniture, as well as sanitize the tables and chairs."

Sans blinked in surprise. "But aren't spider webs, like, your thing?"

"Alas," Muffet sighed, "webs are but another physical contaminant, and we wouldn't want customers to get caught in them."

Sans nodded with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll get right on it. I'll **spin** up a **Sans-ational** dining room for ya."

Muffet cupped a hand over her mouth to giggle into it. "Very well. I await your completion."

The spider monster left Sans to work on the dining room, but not before giving him a feather duster and a red sanitation bucket and rag. The skeleton made his way back into the dining room and went straight to work. However, after dusting away cobwebs and wiping down tables and chairs for about five minutes his desire to go back to sleep manifested into fatigue. He decided to take a quick break - after all, they are legally required - before resuming his work.

Before long, Muffet walked back into the dining room, heading for the front door to flip the sign from closed to open and unlock it, and she stopped and looked around with a gasp of disbelief. She spotted Sans reclined in one of the chairs on the far end of the room, and she narrowed her eyes as she approached him. "What, pray tell, are you doing?"

"Takin' a break," the skeleton replied causally.

"You _do_ know you're here to work and then sleep, right?"

"Of course. But I know for a fact that work has legally required breaks."

Muffet rolled her eyes. "Perhaps Underground your job was more flexible, but as a culinary employee you rarely have opportunity for breaks other than an hour for lunch."

"Wait, _what_?" Sans' sockets widened and he sat up in his seat. "Are you telling me aside from lunch we get _no_ breaks?"

"I'm afraid not. Now get up and finish cleaning up out here so I can open."

Sans drew out a long sigh before reluctantly climbing to his feet and resuming his task. He just couldn't believe what he'd heard. No breaks! What kind of job doesn't have constant breaks? Sentry duty back in Snowdin, Hotland, and Waterfall had plenty of room for breaks, but it seemed jobs up here on the surface weren't as flexible. It seemed like working off those 5G would be a lot harder than he initially thought. How else is this job going to become even more difficult and intolerable?


End file.
